Family Visit and September Thoughts

 

    It has been so fun to have company again. Jane and Larry arrived late Wednesday night and will be here another 3 days. It has been cloudy and rainy but we have had a good time anyway. The highlight was the flightseeing tour in Talkeetna. We hoped to fly around Mt Denali but it was too cloudy to see the summit. We really enjoyed landing on the glacier. The mountain peaks are massive, very awe-inspiring. The flight was very smooth, better than most commercial flights we have been on. The plane is over 50 years old but they update parts and maintain it well. It was so enjoyable. Worth doing!!

    

Some of the other things we enjoyed were going to Moose's Tooth for pizza (popular AND good), a tour of Anchorage on the Red Trolley, and seeing the performing arts center, The ticket taker on the trolley was LDS and let us take his picture. He is a newlywed and just moved to Alaska with his wife who is from Alaska. We also met another LDS man on the tour who was visiting from Cardston. I love the name tag. 

    In Fairbanks we hoped to see the Aurora but it was raining and cold. The tour operator called and canceled and refunded our money which I thought was nice. We went out on our own hoping we might see something but no luck. The next day we went to North Pole and then the Trans-Alaska pipeline. 

    Before leaving Fairbanks we met Sisters Lokotui,  Lameta, Collings and Wettstein for lunch. We went to the Cookie Jar which has been on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives. It was good home cooking and it was nice to get to know the Sisters better.

    Sister Wettstein (from Tucson) is 22 and she and her younger brother (Chile mission) and sister (S. CA mission) also left for missions within 3 months of each other. She is very musically talented on the viola and hopes to someday work with autistic children with music therapy. Sister Collings (from Peoria, AZ) is an identical twin and her sister is serving in the Detroit Michigan mission. She comes from a family with nine children including two sets of identical twins. Sister Lameta (from S. CA) speaks Samoan and arrived 4 weeks ago. Sister Lokotui (Palo Alto) served two tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. She grew up in Tonga and came to the US to serve in the military. She is fearless. She will be going home at the end of the month. She is a very fun, happy person. We will miss her.  It was so nice to get to know all of them a little better. It was interesting talking with them that 2 of them were not born until after 9/11 or too young to know what happened. Sister Lokotui was in Tonga but has a deep love for the US and was grateful to be able to serve in the Army for 8 years. 

    We stopped by Denali National Park on the way home. It was pretty crowded. This is the end of tourist season in Alaska but there are still a lot of tourists everywhere. People are very friendly wherever we stopped. I think people are glad to be out and seeing the beauty of nature. 

    We stopped by the Anchorage Temple after dinner tonight. The flowers are starting to fade but Larry is a good photographer and found some nice views. Very peaceful. 

Spiritual Thought: Looking through pictures of what we have seen over the past few days, I feel so blessed to be able to see and experience the magnificent beauty of the earth. We may need to come back to see Denali and the Aurora when the weather is better. But we were glad for what we did see. It is always surprising how big everything is and how much “more” there is. It reminds me of the songs "Heavenly Father loves Me" and “How Great Thou Art”. From flowers and trees to massive glaciers and mountains, it all inspires gratitude and reverence for the beauties of creation.

   

     I also wanted to include this quote from Pres. George W. Bush when he spoke at the Shanksville, PA memorial on 09/11/2021.

     "For those too young to recall that clear September day, it is hard to describe the mix of feelings we experienced. There was horror at the scale of destruction and awe at the bravery and kindness that rose to meet it. There was shock at the audacity of evil and gratitude for the heroism and decency that opposed it."

     I will always admire the leadership and empathy Pres. Bush showed during this terrible time for our country. Regardless of politics, he showed compassion and resolve. For a time the country was united in grief and concern for each other. I am glad he reminded us to respond to the evil in the world with gratitude and kindness, bravery and decency. I hope we can all find ways to unite for what is good and show compassion for those who suffer.

 I also liked a quote by Pres. Obama: "Even the smallest act of service, the simplest act of kindness, is a way to honor those we lost, a way to reclaim that spirit of unity that followed 9/11".
We hope as you remember 9/11 you will feel inspired to find ways to unite in goodness.

Have a great week. Happy Birthday David Henrie!

Love,

Elder and Sister Robinson

Elder Robinson liked this picture from the first week of moose hunting season. It is his friend, Bishop Matteson who lives in North Pole and is a great hunter. The bear sculpture is in Denali NP and reminded me of Scott and his work.